Going braless - do you?

[Trista]

A front closure would be a good idea, but I hate them though because they usually push the cups further apart, and I do like cleavage.

 

[titania]

I think that's actually a great idea. Why always hide the bra? If it was a beautiful one, why not combine it with the dress like any other piece of clothing?
I remember that Carrie in SATC often wore stuff and her bra was visible and it never looked cheap or bad.

i suppose, like 'going braless', showing your bra is [sometimes] seen as socially unacceptable (seeing as they're undergarments & traditionally, showing them was scandalous).

that said, i myself am obsessed with pretty lingerie & find it such a shame that no-one else sees them (well, i can't speak for everyone but, no-one surely sees mine!). i have this beautiful, dainty little ivory & powder blue bra that needs to be seen!

elleuk.com

 

[Zarina]

^I have tried to go with a strapless bra and felt awful. I felt like it was going to drop. Halterneck seriously makes my neck ache very bad. And we don't have VS in Germany and most of the convertible bras of other brands aren't produced in my size.
But like I said, not complaining.

What about a bustier? That can sometimes work with dresses where a bra isn't an option.

 

[vivalavida]

I don't wear a bra in bed but i usually wear one in the day-time... i don't need to, i just feel more comfortable

 

[irulan]

What about a bustier? That can sometimes work with dresses where a bra isn't an option.

I've considered that for quite a while now. I guess I will check Agent Provocateur for some...Does anybody know if they produce larger bra sizes?

 

[Aquamarina]

I love beautiful underwear but I like goin' braless sometimes. it depends on what I wear, the weather, the mood. I have B size so I think I can afford myself goin' braless

 

[BirkinAddict]

Over all i think women should wear a bra but there are times when it will be ok to not wear one.
There is a woman in my area and i have seen her bra less two times mind you shes over 60 and over weight and he boobs hang down to her belly button. I think it's so gross.

If a woman is a b cup or smaller it doesnt matter. aint nothing to support anyway.

 

[D A N A]

For me I think the only occasions its ok to go bra-less is when youre wearing a dress and its supposed to be worn bra less, because if youre gonna wear a tee or tank or whatever it usually shows and when that happens youll look just wrong

 

[lifeistiffanyblu]

i am a huge lover of lacey dainty pretty lingerie but come summer time i just find it hard to wear but like stated before i would never not wear one with tees and tanks but with halterneck dresses etc i think you can do without one

 

[Echoes]

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f52/hilary-rhoda-76118-221.html

I thought of the pictures on the last few pages of the Hilary Rhoda thread just now. B)

 

[Aradia-Renee]

or do like my wife learned from a sex and city episode wear a thin bra and fake nipples- bodyperks.com

 

[Aradia-Renee]

http://www.softer-ware.com/ also here.

 

[shelovesmixtapes]

Wrt to bra cancer, I certainly hope my bras don't get it

HAHAHAHA I just read back and realised what I put, just sitting here with my sister absolutely in hysterics! Why don't I read these things before I post them

Bra hospital hahahahaha

 

[mellowdrama]

This seems like a fitting article to post here:

Lingerie for the less endowed


Carolyne Zinko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Sunday, July 26, 2009

Ellen Shing wants you to know that in a society where bigger is flaunted as better, at least where the bustline is concerned, there are plenty of small-chested women who beg to differ.

Shing's Lula Lu lingerie in San Mateo specializes in bras whose cups are so small and shallow they are not quite cups, and almost not even saucers.

And yet there is so much demand for sizes from 30AAA to 38A that Shing has done what any entrepreneur would do: failing to find as much as she needed at trade shows, she's begun designing and selling her own line of lingerie to supplement the 14 lines she stocks.

Shing said that her best-selling size is 34AAA and that many women do not - repeat, do not - want padding. Are you listening, Hugh Hefner?

"T-shirt bras are usually heavily padded, if they're geared toward smaller-busted women, based on the assumption that anyone who is small-busted wants to become big-busted, and that's really not always the case," said Shing, 41 and a 36A herself. "A lot of our customers are happy with their bodies. They find the bra shopping experience wrong because nothing fits."

Lula Lu's new line includes plain-Jane, smooth cotton styles in nude and white, coquettish styles in bubblegum pink with white polka dots, and racier styles in black lace with blue or fuchsia satin underneath. Some have underwires; bralets do not. There are corsets, too.

They supplement the national brands she carries: Wacoal petite, L.Z., Spank, Mary Green and Timpa. She stocks full cups, demi cups, push-ups, racer backs, sports bras, strapless bras, T-shirt bras and lace bras, as well as underpants, camisoles, pajamas and swimsuits. The store also carries interchangeable beaded, bejeweled bra straps that are meant to be seen, not hidden; water-resistant pads for swimsuit tops; and jewelry by local artisans.

Customers of all ages

Shing's customers range in age from their late 20s to their 50s. Many have tried boutiques, chain stores, department stores and online stores, with varying degrees of success.

One customer, Trina Enriquez, 30, a copy editor in Menlo Park, has purchased two of Shing's designs. She notes that fashion magazines and department stores rarely celebrate the small-chested woman.

"When you've lived for so long without something, you sometimes just become subconsciously resigned to the idea that that something either just doesn't exist or isn't for you, until a place like Lula Lu comes along and basically says, 'Um, honey, let me show you what you've been missing ...,' " she said in an e-mail.

Shing worked in marketing for the NBA in Hong Kong and in San Francisco as a buyer for Duty Free Stores before opening shop in 2005.

Store clerks can measure incorrectly. One customer, she said, was 36AA, but had been told at a department store she was 32B and was urged to buy a bra that didn't fit. It was squeezing her back so badly that it hurt, the customer said.

"She bought the bra anyway, thinking that was the way it was supposed to be," Shing said.

Attitude adjustment

Other store clerks tell them they don't need to wear bras, or send them to the kids' department. But some small-busted women want coverage while at work; others want a little padding for gowns and sexy dresses; still others don't want to go braless just because they're smaller.

"I get a lot of women telling me the bra fitter sighed and said, 'Oh, how sad,' " Shing said. "One woman said, 'No, sad is starving children in Africa. I just need a bra.' "

"Satisfaction is one thing that definitely keeps me going," she continued. "Emotionally, for a lot of women, it cheers them up and makes them feel better."

Lula Lu Lingerie, 212 E. Third Ave., San Mateo; (650) 348-8858, www.lulalu.com.
Finding your true size

To determine your bra and cup size, measure across the fullest part of the bust and nipple, and next, around the rib cage under the breast. Subtract the rib measurement (smaller) from the bust measurement (larger). A difference of less than 1 inch yields a AA cup; a difference of 1/2 inch or less is a AAA, Shing says.

E-mail Carolyne Zinko at [email protected].
This article appeared on page N - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ 'How sad' How rude!!!

The jeweled bra straps sound really interesting ...

 

[hautechild]

I do sometimes, usually if an outfit calls for no bra. But I have just an A cup so it not a problem.

And I'm not really concerned about visible nipples (I mean seeing the shape through clothes!), they're just nipples!

 

[Emma Naomi]

I go bra-less when the outfit calls for it. Although I'm a D cup, I'm not as big as that sounds, so it doesn't look odd or anything (honest!). Strapless bras are so annoying (they just don't work!) and there are some clothes you just can't wear a bra with - I really don't like visible bras unless they are really good looking, which is rarely, and it's so hard not to look trashy with a visible bra.

 

[verna_gold]

I think that if a bra's going to be visible it's got to be a really beautiful one and not to be white!

I've noticed so many girls with the straps showing of their once white bra, except it's turned greyish through having been bunged in the washing machine with everything else. That's my pet peeve - it's looks so nasty.

 

[Gnszr]

ugh i now ! it's filthy ... i always wear bra, i have big breast, not huge but i'm not a A cup either, so without it i just look as trashy as britney spears, specially cuz i'm very curvy also, so is hard to pull it off without coming as too sexy

 

[Trista]

I have to admit, I did a bit of the visible bra thing last week-I had a job interview (I wore a jacket over the dress for the interview itself, but as soon as I finished the jacket came off) and I wore a black strapless dress, and it's snug in the bust area. It's 34.5", I'm a good 35" (but I take a 34 for bras as they do stretch out). The girls not only get smushed in and pushed down, but it gets sweaty and well, not fun. I don't own any strapless bras, so my only option was a red with white polka-dots bra. (It was also the only one I had that didn't have any push-up) Aside from the typical "oh-so-trashy" factor, I thought it wasn't too bad. Today though, there was a girl who was wearing a tissue-thin white tank that was fairly low-cut, so you could see actual parts of her bra-and it was the VS Very Sexy leopard print.

About the store that sells smaller bras: Kudos to you! I find that you can only get the really, really cute stuff in 34-36 B-C...above or below, you're out of luck.